Are presidents who've served in military history?

For first time in 80 years, nobody on major tickets has served

“It’s indicative of our two political parties just frankly overlooking the value of being part of our armed forces,” he said. “They’re not attentive to the significance of that kind of service to the national character.”

During the 1970s, about 80 percent of the members of Congress had military experience. As recently as 1992, it was 50 percent. Now it’s about 20 percent.

Harkins, who spent 35 years in the Marines, said people who have been in uniform bring certain favorable characteristics with them when they move into government, business or community organizations. “You can communicate to people something about teamwork and cooperation, about putting others before yourself,” he said.

And something about perspective, said Melendez, the Veterans Museum director and a retired Navy rear admiral.

“My personal opinion is I would certainly like to have people at the top with military experience, especially when they are committing U.S. forces on behalf of the country,” he said. “I think military experience tempers a rush to judgment. It’s too easy to see the military as just a tool instead of being made up of people who have families.”

That was a concern of Eisenhower’s, too. As an Army general, he oversaw the Allied forces in Europe during World War II. “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can,” he later said.

Congressman Duncan Hunter, a Marine combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he understands the concerns about having leaders with no military backgrounds making military decisions.

“It’s harder to articulate what’s needed, whether you’re talking about Afghanistan or procurement or weapons, when people don’t speak the same language,” he said.

But when it comes to the president, he doesn’t see being a veteran as mandatory. “As long as you surround yourself with good, smart people who can fill in the blanks, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

It didn’t matter with Roosevelt, whose only military experience was as a civilian assistant secretary of the Navy. It didn’t matter with Abraham Lincoln, whose service was limited to three months as a militia captain in the Black Hawk War. Both are routinely considered among the nation’s greatest presidents.

Conversely, Grant, the celebrated Civil War general, was by most calculations a lackluster president.

“The skill sets do not line up directly,” Nagl said.

Ric Epps, a San Diego State political science professor, thinks it’s understandable that military service doesn’t seem to hold as much sway with candidates or the voting public. “It started with Vietnam,” he said.

Soldiers who fought there couldn’t wrap themselves in glory the way the conquering heroes of World War II could. Although Bill Clinton’s efforts to avoid the Vietnam draft drew criticism during the 1992 campaign, he defeated incumbent George H.W. Bush, a World War II aviator, and ended a string of nine-straight presidencies held by military veterans.

Al Gore downplayed his Vietnam service when he ran for the White House. John Kerry had his record as a decorated swift-boat commander turned against him, another sign of just how unpopular the war was.